Chapter Seven

"What's the matter?" Selena cocked her head when Theodosia's brow wrinkled into a frown as a maid whispered something in her ear before scurrying off. She had a suspicion that the furrow between her friend's brows had something to do with a man, fair-haired, and surnamed Savage.

"Your brother is here."

"That rogue..." Why on earth would he be here? She had made it clear when she left the house an hour ago this tea party was for women only. "Did he dress in a skirt? I told him anything with breeches was not allowed."

"I'm not sure. He is not alone."

Oh, surely not. . . "Warrick is here as well?"

Theodosia nodded, and Selena's heartbeat accelerated. He didn't have the nerve to hand over the note from the manufacturer himself, but he could show up with her brother at an event where neither was invited nor belonged? Could it mean he had news?

No.

That could not be. He would have sought her out privately if he'd found a noteworthy lead. Or sent his lackey. That was if he were still of a mind to help her search for the club. She'd already decided to send him tea as an apology gift. Though, in all fairness, Theodosia should be the one apologizing.

"I wonder what they want," Harriet murmured, "or if they ran into my husband."

Theodosia pursed her lips. "They have not requested an audience, but apparently your brother brought a gift."

"A gift?" That surprised Selena. "Saville has never bought anyone a gift before. Not even me."

Theodosia's eyes widened. "Truly?"

Selena nodded. They weren't affectionate that way. "I send him the bills of my purchases and he sends me grumbles, birthday or not."

Theodosia shook her head. "He and my eldest brother would get along famously."

"I'm surprised your brothers haven't returned to London," Leonora murmured. "They are depriving London of their handsome faces."

"Oh stop," Theodosia muttered. "The longer they stay away, the better for me. My parents have been keeping news under wraps, but it's only a matter of time before they descend upon London anyway. Shall we go see what the men want, or shall we ignore them until the party is done?"

Leonora nodded to one of the drawing rooms that faced the garden. "That would be them, I expect."

Selena squinted in the direction of the house. Sure enough, two, no, three silhouettes could be seen shadowing the windows.

"Is that Leeds?" Selena asked.

Harriet groaned. "He must have grasped the opportunity and latched onto your suitors."

"They are not our suitors," Selena and Theodosia blurted at the same time.

Leonora laughed.

"This is ridiculous," Selena exclaimed, as she marched to the house. "I'll go chase them off."

These men... could they not give them even half a day's reprieve? And just when she'd been having a very interesting conversation with Leonora. Clearly, there was no need for their protection at an all-women's tea party. Yet they still dared to encroach? Honestly, if Warrick could send a footman to deliver an important note, Saville could have sent a footman to deliver his gift. Or he could deliver it and leave. Then again, having lived with her brother's shamelessness all her life, his behavior ought not come as surprise.

Warrick, on the other hand, had no reason to be here.

And Leeds... well, that was Leeds. Ever the opportunist.

By the time she entered the drawing room, flanked by Theodosia and Harriet, the men were calmly seated, as though they had no care whatsoever that they were supposed to be anywhere else but here.

Theodosia's cold gaze swept over the men. "Men are not allowed at this party."

Saville nodded. "We are not at your party; we are in the drawing room."

Utterly Shameless.

Selena's gaze fell on Warrick. Their gazes met fleetingly before he glanced away. Selena blinked. Was he ignoring her?

"If you haven't noticed," Theodosia crossed her arms, "all the men in the house, servants and family, have been dismissed for the party. You're the only ones here."

Warrick rose to his feet. "I'll wait in the carriage," he directed at Saville before nodding at the ladies and striding from the room.

Selena's gaze tracked his back in astonishment. Not once, but for that brief instant, did he even look at her. Selena had never been so blatantly ignored in all her life. This man... this man had just given her the cut direct! Was he that mad?

By Jove!

She would not be so glaringly disregarded! Her feet stormed after him even before her brain finished the thought. She grabbed him by the elbow, pulling him to a stop. "Why are you ignoring me?"

He refused to look at her.

"Are you not even going to look at me?" Her eyes narrowed on him. "Are you never going to look at me again? Are you certain you can manage that?"

He remained stubbornly silent.

"I suppose we can mime our words with our hands," Selena said gratingly. "Or we can communicate with the written word."

His jaw was tight, his composure forced, and his hands fisted into tight balls. Selena let go of his elbow, her arms falling back to her sides. "I never took you for a man who would ignore a person in such a blatant fashion."

Those dark eyes finally settled on her.

Selena's heart did a little somersault in her chest. "A clenched jaw. Stiff posture. Fisted hands. Your entire body speaks how severely annoyed with me you must be. Not to mention the fact that you gave me the cut in there."

"I'm not annoyed with you."

"Aha! He speaks. You are not annoyed with me, you say, but you are annoyed. Plus, you were so obvious in your disregard. Who are you vexed with if not me?"

He unclenched his fists, flexing his fingers to relax them. "I'm not annoyed with you, Selena, I'm annoyed with myself. More so now that I've given in and entertained this conversation."

Rude man. "Is it because I took you to a charlatan's house or because you kissed me?"

He stared at her without a word.

"Because I bit you, perhaps?" Could it be that?

He still gave her nothing.

"All of them, then. What must I do to make you forgive me? I was planning on sending you tea as an apology."

"I have enough, thank you."

"Does that mean you are not going to forgive me? I've forgiven you, and this is a special tea."

He arched a brow.

"It aids hair growth."

His face frosted over.

Why must the man be so rigid? "Come now, Warrick, what must I do? I will do anything you want." She paused, lowering her voice. "If it's about the kiss, it didn't bother me that much."

The corners of his eyes crinkled. She'd caught his attention. "The kiss didn't bother you?"

"No," she said simply. "It was a moment of madness. I understand."

So long as it never happened again.Because this was Warrick. Saville's friend. A previous girlhood infatuation. One of the men who had turned her life upside down and had her questioning her very existence in this world.

She studied his face as she waited for his response. Warrick had been in her world longer than he had not. She supposed that was why the betrayal she had felt when she had learned about what he and her brother had done had been no less than her anger toward them.

Had she still not let that hurt go?

"A moment of madness," he finally repeated.

Why did she sense that his mood had plummeted even more? "Was it not?"

"So, me kissing you didn't bother you?"

"I said as much, didn't I?" Selena smirked. "It seems to have bothered you."

His gaze searched hers and a slow smile creeped across his face, so suddenly it seemed wholly out of place from the mood he emanated mere moments ago. "You said you'd do anything as long I forgive you?"

Selena paused. "Within reason," she said slowly.

"Define reason."

"Not too difficult to accomplish. Not too strenuous. And nothing that requires me to use a weapon."

He snatched her wrist, pulled her swiftly into the nearest room, and backed her against the wall. Heat rose to her cheeks. "What are you doing, Phineas?"

"What I want is simple." He leaned in close. "It is nowhere near laborious and requires no weapon whatsoever."

"What do you want?" Did she honestly want to know?

Yes. Yes, I do.

His gaze burned into hers. "I want my kiss to bother you."

Selena blinked.

"So I'm going to do it you again until you are damn well as bothered by it as me."

Her breath hitched. Before Selena could utter even one word, her lips were covered by his. For a second, the world froze, and all she could feel was the probing of his tongue demanding and claiming entrance. Her heart thudded, drowning out all other noise until she could hear no sound but its pounding beat. She could almost taste resentment in his kiss, the frustration. Whether it was because she teased him, bit him, or refused to have him ignore her, whatever had triggered this sensual onslaught, Selena could not find the reason to push him away.

In truth, she loved the way he was bothered by her. The way he responded when he was teased by her. She rewarded his delightful responses by sliding her hands to the back of his neck. She wanted to bother and tease him even more. Day and night.

A throat cleared.

Selena's eyes shot open, and she pushed at Warrick even as he took a hasty step backward. Leonora stood a few feet away, staring at them in astonishment, her cheeks glowing bright red. This... This... "It's not what you think," she blurted and wanted to slap her forehead. Because it was—it was exactly what her friend thought.

"I'm not thinking anything." Leonora slowly retreated a step.

"He's helping me," Selena said, straightening her gown, "with finding the club we spoke about earlier."

"No, I am not."

Her gaze flew to his, Leonora all but forgotten. "You aren't helping me anymore?"

"No."

"Because of the doctor incident?"

"No."

"The kiss?"

"No."

Selena's mind raced. "The hair growth tea."

"No."

"Then why?"

He dragged a hand through his hair. "Because I agreed in the first place against my better judgment."

"Which you have now miraculously recovered?"

"Yes," he bit out.

He just stole every sense from her body and now this? "You just wait, Phineas." Selena turned on her heel and marched from the room. She couldn't think with that distracting scent, that face, and the frustration that suddenly stabbed her chest.

"What do you mean by that?" he called out after her. "Where the hell do you think you are going?"

She kept walking, her back straight.

"Selena!"

Call all you like, you rotten rogue. She could also ignore him. She would be as tight-lipped as though her mouth had been sewn shut with embroidery needles.

*

Disaster loomed.

He could feel it in his bones. He should never have followed Saville and Leeds into the house. The moment he saw a maid open the door, not a butler, and no footman in sight, he should have run.

Now she was the one dashing off, leaving him with parting words that brought an odd tightness to his chest.

"I wouldn't if I were you."

Warrick stopped his pursuit in it tracks at the soft voice. He spared a glance at Lady Leonora, whom he had forgotten about.

Right.

They'd been caught kissing.

In. The. Act.

Christ.

This was why he hadn't wanted to run into Selena. Why he'd tried his best to hold back. One look, one word from her was all it took to draw him in and provoking this sudden lack of control he found himself exhibiting. But her earlier words had triggered the beast inside him. The kiss hadn't troubled her? Truly? While he had been extremely pained by not only their kiss but his reaction when their lips touched?

He suddenly understood what she meant by feeling insignificant. A truly ghastly feeling, that.

She thought he'd kissed her out of anger. So had he. But the truth was even more shocking. Deep down, he just couldn't help himself. He wanted to kiss her.

Badly.

Madly.

And utterly incomprehensibly.

He had wanted to unravel the threads that tangled Selena up. He'd just hoped to God that he wouldn't unravel along with them. But the moment he had—as he'd feared he would—he'd panicked. Which led to the current circumstance of being caught in the act. And his dread hadn't subsided yet. With each passing second it seemed to grow stuffier right at the center of his chest.

But before he could deal with that, he first had to deal with Selena's friend.

"I trust you will keep this matter a secret?"

Lady Leonora inclined her head. "I will. However, if I were you, I'd allow some time for Selena—and yourself—to cool down."

Warrick nodded. "Noted. If you will excuse me."

"Of course."

Warrick strode from the room. He probably should give her time to settle her temper. As well as time for his own body, which still throbbed with heat, to calm. He cursed his own thoughts. Hadn't he moments ago said he was done? What the hell had happened to his resolve?

You know what happened.

Shehappened.

At the very least, he ought to apologize, shouldn't he? Perhaps he shouldn't have been done in the first place. Confound it. He needed to clear his head.

He nodded at the maid that stood at the entrance of the door, striding through the door she opened and hurrying down the three steps before marching to Saville's carriage. Forget Tattersalls, forget Saville.

Saville could walk home.

He wrenched open the door of the carriage and froze mid-enter. Two pools of blazing fires stared at him from within. "What are you doing? This isn't your carriage." Selena's voice was dark.

"I clearly remember arriving in it."

"Well, I'm leaving in it."

Warrick studied her fiery eyes for a moment before inclining his head. Very well, it seemed he'd be walking home. "Then I shall take my leave another way."

"Wait!" She leaned over to press against the door he started to shut. "Come in."

"I don't think that's a good idea." Had she come here instead of going back to the party because she gathered he'd return here? Was that what her you just wait meant? One look at her narrowed eyes, and Warrick decided not to ask.

Against his better judgement, he entered and settled in across from her. "Selena—"

"I thought I could keep silent," she interrupted him, and Warrick shut his mouth, staring at her. "But I am once again reminded that it's not in my nature to do so. I'm furious and want to yell at someone."

"Your friend suggested we give each other space to cool down."

"Leonora? What else did she say?"

"She promised to not breathe a word of what she witnessed."

"Of course. She is my friend, after all. But I don't need space at the moment. I need answers."

"By all means, shout if you must." They should not be alone together, but leaving was also not an option. The woman before him as looking for a fight. He had an inkling that she would chase him down the street, with or without a candelabra, in her current mood.

"Are you really not going to help me anymore?"

Warrick dragged a hand through his hair at the question. He'd expected it, but how to answer? He still had men inquiring after the club. He hadn't called them off yet. In fact, the moment his suspicion formed after Saville showed him that drawing, he knew he wouldn't.

But that was different than helping Selena find a club that had now become even more suspect than before. Then again, if he stopped helping her, she would venture off on her own again. He lost, no matter what. However, the club wasn't the root issue here. There was a bigger and more terrifying problem that they were currently glossing over and ignoring: all the lines they had crossed.

"I'm still searching for your club," he finally admitted.

"Then why... you know what, never mind. Let's not delve into your reasoning."

"You know my reasoning."

"The kiss."

He stared back. "Did it not bother you at all?" It had been bothering him so much that he'd been acting hot one moment and cold the next.

"Which one?"

"Don't play coy."

She arched a brow. "Who is the one playing coy today?"

"I'm a man. I don't act coy."

"Well, neither do I. I don't have the patience."

She lifted the palms of her hands. "In any case, if a kiss bothers you so much, why did you do it?"

"How was I to know it was going to bother me as much as it does?" Warrick retorted, then stilled.

They both looked away.

"Well," she said after a moment, tapping the window with her finger, just like her brother had done earlier. "This is rather anticlimactic. I intended to yell at you and perhaps punch you one or two times, but now I've lost the urge. In any case, since you loathe the idea of helping me so much, you don't need to trouble yourself anymore."

Warrick turned to study her. "I beg your pardon?"

"The best thing to do is simply go our separate ways." She pursed her lips. "Perhaps space is what I need after all."

Warrick had never been at a loss for how to respond as at that moment. They were both like little children playing tug of war, but neither gaining any ground. He suddenly laughed. "It seems we both have conflicting feelings on the matter."

Her brows drew together sharply, but then slowly smoothed. A small smile followed. "It seems that you are right."

He shouldn't ask, but, "Where does that leave us?"

"I'm not sure." She lifted her chin, meeting his gaze. "But I do know we made a deal. Shall we continue to honor it?"

"Let me ask you this first: Did you know about the sword and rose crest?"

Her eyes widened.

So she did. "You never told me." A wild guess formed. "You never told me because you never intended for me to accept the deal, did you?"

"Honestly, at the start, no. I blundered that day. You didn't allow me to retract my blunder."

"I see." So their deal had been an accidental one. "Given all that, you're still willing to honor the deal?"

"I am." She scooted to the edge of her seat. "How do you know about the crest?"

Warrick had half a mind to withhold the information. Tease her a bit. He cleared his throat. "I have my ways, and I'm still debating whether it's in my best interest to continue with our deal. You are certainly quick to change your mind."

"Fickleness is within the repertoire of a woman's character, didn't you know?"

"True, but then glossing over a woman's fickleness is certainly within the repertoire of a man's character, don't you agree?"

She settled back into the seat and stared at him intently. There was something new about her gaze, a cautious assessment that had his nerves prickling.

"It troubles me," she continued after a moment.

Warrick was taken aback. "What does?"

"The first kiss," she clarified. "And today's one. I'm not unbothered."

"They... bother you, too," Warrick repeated dumbly, then cursed at himself for sounding like an undeveloped infant who couldn't yet understand words.

"Yes. Kissing you troubles me. It troubles me that I didn't push you away. It troubles me that I liked it. It troubles be because no matter what, I can't seem to escape you, neither can I forget the content of that list boldly claiming space on a scrap of paper written in your scrawl."

"Selena . . ." Words failed him.

"It troubles me because I trust you and I don't trust you at the same time."

The corner of his eye twitched.

He didn't like that. He didn't like that at all.

"So since we are both so troubled, let us call what happened between us a transaction between friends," she suggested. "We are at least that, are we not?"

Warrick exhaled a deep, lengthy breath. Friends. He liked the term better than guard dog. "I'd like to believe that we are."

"Very good," she said, reaching for the door of the carriage. "If you decide to continue our deal, let me know."

Warrick started. How clever of her, turning the tables on him. Whether she meant to or not, teasing him. Snatching any upper hand away from him. He now sorely doubted he'd ever had it to begin with.

Perhaps he was on a journey of self-discovery as well—Lord knows, it didn't seem he knew what he wanted either—a quest to find out what the devil he was supposed to do with about this curse, about this woman, about this deuced knot tightening in his chest.

He said the only thing he could at the moment. "Send my apologies to Lady Theodosia for intruding."

Her brow furrowed, and he thought she might say something, but she then she gave a small nod before she left him alone in the carriage and made her way back to the party.

Warrick threw his head back against the seat and shut his eyes.

He sighed. What a bloody disaster.

His eyes snapped open.

Why hadn't she pressed him about the crest?